Calvary Baptist Church, Grenada, MS, USA
Holding to the truths embraced by Baptist for centuries.
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And they shall see his face: and his name shall be in their foreheads.
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth
them light: and they shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. 21:2-4, 23-25, 27), (Rev. 22:1-5).
There are none who will say to go to such a city and dwell is not gain. Heaven is a place. It is a city. The vast difference between the heavenly city and the cities of earth is this— THERE IS NO SIN THERE. Because there is no sin there, God's will is done and where the will of God is done perfectly there is contentment arid happiness. I have lived in Lexington many years and like it mighty well, but heaven is far better. Walter has moved arid doesn't live here any more. His address is the City of God, the New Jerusalem.
The gain I mention next is—THE LIFE WALTER LIVES. He did enjoy living—he filled every minute of the day with work. During the summer he died, few days passed that he didn't preach somewhere—often two and three times a day. He loved people. He loved their souls and because he loved Christ he pushed out to win them for Him.
"HIS DYING WORDS"
It was two o'clock in the morning that they called me to come to the hospital. I found him dying. He was singing and praying, then he would sing and then he would preach. I thought at the time he must be delirious though his prayers were simple and just like the prayers he always prayed. He sang verse after verse of hymns correctly. After this he took a text and expounded its meaning. He called on me to lead in prayer and I did. I still thought he was delirious, that it was his illness, but I do not think so now. I believe it was God's Holy Spirit manifesting Himself. I can't understand it. I don't try to understand—I only believe.
I would go up to him and say, "Walter, you must be quiet." And for a while he would be still. Finally, I went once more and laid my hand on his head and said, "Walter, you have
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preached enough for today; you have prayed enough, now rest, be quiet." "Clarence," he said, "How can I be quiet when there are so many lost souls around me who must be won to the Lord?"
I never again said, "Walter, be quiet." It was indeed a solemn hour. Bernice, his wife, my sisters, Johnnie and Louisa, with the nurses simply listened and watched as Walter moved out of his house of clay. We were not crying. We felt we were in the presence of Almighty God—then Walter moved out and he didn't live here any more. He was gone.
WAS THAT THE END? Is his spirit asleep in the grave? Ah, NO! He has moved into another house, into another city and enjoys a more abundant life. It was when Lazarus died that our Savior and Martha talked about this very fact-—
"Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went out and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus said unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:20-26.) The question the Savior asked Martha, "Believest thou this" after he had stated the truth, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" find my own heart saying, "Lord, I do believe more than ever since Walter doesn't live here any more."
BUT HE LIVES.
He is not dead; he is absent from the body, but he is at home with the Lord. He lives far more fully than he ever did in the flesh.
Some years ago I had a very dear friend, who wrote a letter asking me to give the scriptures which teach that a believer
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goes immediately at death to be with the Lord. I have named the incident "A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD".
Nathan Jarman was born in England, but came to America in his boyhood. He settled in what is now the city of Petoskey, Michigan. When I first knew him he was a very old man. He lived until he was ninety years of age. We became close friends. None who knew him doubted his faith in Christ. Living his religion, he loved God and served Him by day and by night.
Somehow he had heard about the doctrine of soul-sleeping and had become disturbed about the subject. This doctrine teaches that when a man dies his soul sleeps in the grave with the body until the resurrection of the dead.
I think it was in the fall of 1928 that I visited in the home of Bro. Jarman. He was sick then and it was plain that "the departure which is far better" was not far off. After I returned to Lexington he wrote me telling of his feeble health and asking that I write him a letter giving those scriptures that teach us the believer's soul goes immediately into the presence of the Lord Jesus and does not sleep in the grave. He told how he dreaded the long, dreamless sleep in the grave, and if at death he should see his Savior how happy he would be. In other words he was asking me—would he be alive, would he be serving the King of Kings when his spirit was absent from the body, would he live?
I answered his letter giving many scriptures showing how the believer's soul goes immediately at death to be with Christ. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (II Cor. 5:8), and "The time of my departure is at hand" (II Tim. 4:6), "For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain . . . and to be with Christ; which is far better" (Phil. 1:21, 23). To the thief on the cross who had just been converted unto God, Christ said, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Then there is that wonderful story of Moses and Elias
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talking with Jesus on Mt. Transfiguration—Moses had been with the Lord nearly 1,500 years and his body was buried near Mt. Nebo, while Elias had been in heaven for almost 800 years. Peter, James and John knew these men from heaven though they themselves still lived on earth (Mark 9:2-13).
I gave him many other scriptures with this request: "Brother Jarman, when you come to death you shall know just before you cross over the dark valley that there is no death to one who believes in Christ. I want you to send me word just what you see and hear when you come to die, to verify the words of the Savior when He said, 'He that believeth on me shall never die.' If you cannot speak, give some token which will be understood by those present."
In the spring I heard of his death but not a word about anything that happened as he crossed the river to be with Christ.
That fall when the hay fever drove me to Northern Michigan, I received what I am pleased to call "A Message from the Dead." IT WAS THIS WAY. One night just after supper I heard Mrs. Gaffney, our friend with whom we visited at Petoskey, say, to Glo, "Mrs. Walker, you should have been here when Bro. Jarman died." I listened for I knew something wonderful was coming. Mrs. Gaffney continued, "He had been sick and very low for some time. He was bothered about that soul-sleeping doctrine, but the night he died he seemed to forget those present at his bedside. He looked up and seemed to see things others couldn't see. Smiles played upon his face. Then in a clear and unmistakable voice he said, "Yes, I'm coming, yes, dear one, I am coming." Then he called his loved ones who had gone before by name telling them, "Yes, I am coming." He saw heaven, he heard their voices and saw their faces even from this side as he "came into the city whose builder and maker is God." BUT THAT ISN'T ALL.
At Lansing, Michigan, I told in a sermon, of Bro. Jarman's victorious death. After the sermon Bro. Wm. Ross, who was his (Bro. Jarman's) pastor at the time said, "Bro. Walker, you missed the main point of Bro. Jarman's glorious death. After
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speaking to his loved ones and seeing the things beyond, Bro. Jarman died exclaiming "AWAKE! AWAKE! AWAKE!" As Bro. Ross told me this, I said, "Again, I have had a message from the dead."
Glory, praise and honor unto Christ—Our Conqueror of Death, Hell, and the Grave. "The wages of sin is death—but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:26).
The gain we find in the following scripture is HAPPINESS.
"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours: and their works do follow them" (Rev. 14:18).
The word blessed means happy—"Happy are the dead which die in the Lord." For Walter there is no more pain, no more worry, no more weeping and mourning for the dead, for none die. There is no death there, no graves, no sin. There is only love to God and love to fellowman, a high and holy love. These are the conditions of true happiness.
Our mother raised fourteen children and when she died nine of us stood about her bed. As we saw her spirit wing its flight to mansions above, we all knew that there had been sorrow— much sorrow—in her life. Through all her days her hands had been busy, and oftentimes her heart full. But now she is happy —-happy with her Lord. No wonder a great soul wrote:
"Oh, if some island of the blessed could be loosed from its heavenly mooring and glide down the stream of time and pass by in our sight just one time, so that we might see the unflecked serenity of its skies, and inhale the fragrance of its flowers, and be ravished by the melodious strains of its music, and match just one time the sheen of the apparel of its inhabitants, never again would we be satisfied with this world."
YET, THAT ISN'T ALL.
"They do rest from their labors and their works do follow them." In this, is the grace of God clearly seen. The works Walter began while he lived continue since he is gone. I am
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thinking of the revivals, of his pastorates and especially his work in establishing the mission near the Kentucky River on the Richmond Pike. I am thinking of the souls who have been saved and are being saved and will be saved and how when the Lord shall come again, Walter will be rewarded not only for the works he did while he lived but for the results that have followed from those works.
But I am not done yet. These works bring us to another gain—THE RESURRECTION OF WALTER'S BODY.
God's Grace has not yet fulfilled its objective, although Walter is with the Lord. He lives in the City of New Jerusalem, enjoying the glorious life with perfected spirits of God's Saints of all ages and is in company with the angels. He is happy while he rests from his works on earth, and "his works do follow him." Although he has gained these blessings, he has not yet reached the goal of redeeming grace because his whole man is not there.
Walter's body sleeps in the dust of the earth, while his spirit In Heaven awaits its resurrection from the dead.
A day is coming when the Lord Jesus shall return to this earth and will raise Walter's dead body, as the scriptures say:
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It (the body) is sown in corruption: it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonour: it is raised in glory: It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body: it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
And so it is written. The first man Adam was made a living soul: and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural: and afterwards that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot in-
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herit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when the corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory ?
The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 15:42-57).
In writing to the Church at Thessalonica, Paul forcibly instructs them concerning the resurrection of the dead body as follows:
"But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I These. 4:13-17).
Since Walter died the Holy Spirit has taught my heart what it means "To sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."
I visit his grave. Ofttimes unbidden tears come into my eyes. I say to myself, "I'll not think about him nor mention his name again." But I do. I sorrow—BUT NOT AS THOSE
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WHO HAVE NO HOPE. My hope is sure and steadfast and is based upon these comforting truths revealed in these scriptures.
(1) The Lord is coming again.
(2) At His coming He will bring with Him the Spirits of all the saved who have died.
(3) He shall raise their sleeping bodies from the dust and make them perfect as He did their spirits when they died.
(4) The spirit that has been in Heaven will then be reunited with its resurrected body.
(5) The living saved will be caught up into the air and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the glorification of the saints will be completed.
(6) We shall all be together and shall know each other and find comfort in fellowship with each other.
(7) Greatest of all—we shall be forever with the Lord— complete, as Paul tells us in these words:
"AND THE GOD OF PEACE HIMSELF SANCTIFY YOU WHOLLY: AND MAY YOUR SPIRIT AND SOUL AND BODY BE PRESERVED ENTIRE, WITHOUT BLAME AT THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST" (I Thess. 5:33 RV).
Mark the date—it is "at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ"—Walter will be entirely sanctified. It is then that he will have his resurrected body with his perfected spirit. What glory, what riches will be manifested to him as the ages roll on. Walter had much to say about the grace of God in his preaching. He knew he had been saved by grace. He knew all he had hoped to have was his because God had given it to him, unworthy as he was to receive it. There was one scripture he loved and in it he found spiritual biography as God had written it:
"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Rom. 8:29-30).
You notice that it was in eternity before the world was made, that Walter's spiritual history began, when God foreknew